Tyranids: 9th Edition codex review

Hey everyone, Danny from TFG Radio, and after a bit of a post LVO break, it is one of those sweet, rare times: A chance to review a whole new codex! I am just about as dedicated to the Hive Mind as one can be without sprouting extra appendages, so you can only imagine how much I have loved pouring over this book. There is just a ton to go over, so get comfy! Be sure to also pre-order all the cool stuff today from the ever reliable Frontline webstore!

Having collected and played Tyranids since the early 90s, I have spent the majority of my life in service to the Great Devourer, and after Crusher Stampede arrived to give us some new life in the competitive scene, this book takes that up a notch! We have a new book, and a lot to discuss, so this article will focus mostly on the broad strokes of the codex as opposed to very specific, focused analysis of unit by unit. That will certainly come later, but right now, let’s just dive into what we have here in a general sense with some more focused stops along the way.  Trust me, I’ll be doing deep, deep drives on things like each Hive Fleet, Stratagems, and such later.  As a note, until we hear from GW in some official capacity, I am not going to detail how Crusher Stampede may or may not work with the new codex.

What it feels like overall?

My first reaction is wow, Tyranids have definitely come out swinging into the 9th edition meta.  There are big, big damage dealers here now, and where Tyranids once struggled to do meaningful damage outside of Crusher Stampede, now even our little Termagant is essentially packing a T’au pulse rifle.  Everything from Tyrants to Carnifexes to Raveners got some love, whether it be more attacks, more AP, or more damage.  Yes, some things were dialed back a bit like Termagants with Devourers, but hey, we honestly gained so much more than we lost.  Tyranids can bring heat in every phase of the game with strong shooting, some really solid melee, and devastating psychic, but we even have some more defensive tek happening, and yah, overall, this is likely the strongest Tyranids have ever been.  I am willing to put that down as someone who fondly remembers the raw power of the 4th edition book, but this, this feels perhaps even, too…good? I hope the Hive Mind doesn’t punish me for such insolence. 

Big Unit Changes: 

Yes, Hive Guard are not as good anymore. With less strength and more fixed but less spikey damage, and that they cannot simply shoot whatever they want, their long reign is over.  They also moved to Heavy Support, so they are in direct competition with a lot of other choice units.  They are also still expensive, so yes, except for maybe a small squad of 3 to help flush out annoying objective campers, you are not going to see Hive Guard much at all. 

 
Yes, Swarmlord lost Hive Commander’s double move.  No, this doesn’t make it bad. Being able to give one unit full rerolls (perfect for the upgunned Termies and Hormies) and making them count as 2 models for objectives still makes this big bug an almost auto include. Blade Parry is now just making 1 melee attack damage 0, which helps, and it is now T8 with a 2+/4++, so it is still pretty solid and hard to shift.  As Warriors are now much stronger than before, especially in Leviathan, making a big unit of 9 count as 18 Obsec models is pretty sweet.  You are limited to one Tyrant per detachment, so you need to think carefully about how many detachments you are going to take as Nids do love CP. Speaking of Tyrants, Winged and Walking Tyrants are different dataslates now, but a key feature is that the Winged Tyrant can no longer take 2 different sets of weapons, just 1, so the days of the Dakka Flyrant are over.

Harpys and Hive Crones are now Aircraft proper, so the Crusher Stampede/Leviathan trick of snaking objectives is gone.  This is a good thing, but they bring more heat, and with their blistering speed, they can generally do some decent damage and still aren’t that pricey. The Harpy is significantly better thanks to the improvements in the Heavy Venom Cannon, and their spore mine dropping can still do some solid damage for essentially free. Especially since the Harpy is not very expensive at all, putting out that many Venom Cannons shot with blistering speed to line up shots means that a Harpy can easily get within 12″ of a Void Weaver to ignore its defensive bonuses and then blast them to pieces.

The humble Fleshborer is now something to be respected. With a boost to 18″ range, up to S5 and AP-1, even a bog standard Termagant or Gargoyle unit can put out enough shots to really threaten targets.  When you can easily fit over 100+ bodies in a list with plenty of room for other tek, Swarms are back on the menu.  Everything is more expensive, but you can still bring 200 bodies with some other items in a standard 2K list.  

Hormies get AP-1 and 3 attacks base, and well, I’d be remiss to not mention Swarming Masses, which essentially radically increases the amount of models that can get into melee.  Big, giant blobs are no longer easy to kite to the edges, and now you can really maximize how much kill you are capable of getting, especially with all the new tricks.  Gorgon and Hydra especially make Hormies really effective killers that can jump out and actually do damage besides gumming up the board, and they are now base 10″ of movement, so they can haul their little butts around the table.  This combination of kill and board control is going to ruin a lot of people’s days.

Genestealers have seen a big change, moving to the Elite Section and going down to max 10.  They also lose the inherent advance and charge.  That seems bad, but they do get something that Tyranids lack, Advance Deploy.  They get to deploy up the board, giving you some great board control early, and they are much more of a tek piece now than just flat out belligerence. They can still do work in melee, and they are a bit harder now than before, but again, Advance Deploy is great for both early pressure and taking key mid-table objectives.  Small 5 bug squads with no upgrades are 80 points, which can be a small investment for a lot of early game board positioning. It does hurt when, if like me, you have 60+ Genestealers, but hey, Apocalypse is always a thing. 

Mawlocs are now Fast Attack choices, and Terror From the Deep is a bit different.  First, it is a marker now, and it doesn’t activate until your NEXT movement phase, meaning your opponent can move away from it.  When it pops up, each enemy unit within 6 of the marker is hit, and you roll a d6. On a 3-6, unit takes d3 mortals. On a 7+, it takes d3+3 mortals.  You add 1 to this roll if the enemy unit has 6-10 models, and +2 if it has 11+ models.  The Mawloc is then set up anywhere within 12″ of the Marker and not in Engagement Range, and it cannot Charge if it lands within 9″ of an enemy unit.  That’s a lot of words.  Really, the damage output is easy to mitigate, but this is a great way to force your opponent to have to reposition around an objective, and Mawlocs essentially become Objective killers, especially if you take the adaptive trait to give it Obsec and count as 5 models.  It is T7 with 14 wounds now and 16 attacks (S7 AP-1 D1), so it isn’t totally easy to ignore once it pops up, so yah, Mawloc is actually an amazing tek piece that just takes a bit to get used to, and if you build for it, can be Obsec, and may just be the new King of taking objectives. 

Exocrines and Tyrannofexes both no longer get double shooting, which is actually awesome because it gives you more flexibility to move and their weapon profiles have been upgunned to compensate. The Exocrine puts out 7 to 10 shots at S8 AP-4 D3, which is just solid, solid firepower, and the Tyrannofex has a lot of fun options, the flamer being D6+6, with a boost to AP-3 and a flat Damage 2, the Fleshborer Hive going to Assault 30, and the Rupture Cannon being Heavy 3, S14 AP-4 Dd6+4.  As a note, the Tyrannofex is now 17 Wounds and native BS 3+, but it also has the Horned Chitin keyword, meaning if it charges, it can actually do some surprising mortal wounds out of nowhere.  Exocrines still are the best overall shooting big bug for consistency and all-around good damage, but a Tyrannofex with Fleshborer Hive can still put out enough shots to do good work, and the Tyrannofex is just slightly beefier statwise.

Carnifexes got much improved with a native WS 3+ and 2+ save, but what is key about them is they are now the only options for double devourers or double deathspitters. I still really like double devourers as taking the full Dakkafex (four devourers essentially) is still 24 shots at S6, and since Carnifexes are CORE, you can boost them in all sorts of fun ways.  Especially since I think we are going to be seeing a lot more little bugs on the table, having a few of these can be a good answer to clearing out chaff.  Crusher-Claws are also legit big damage with no penalty, so the Can-Opener Carnifex is definitely back on the menu. Also, Carnifexes just naturally have -1 damage, which doesn’t stack with any other damage reduction bonuses, but it is a nice thing to just have. Scream-Killers got a huge glowup as dedicated melee platforms with 11 attacks on the charge! Thornbacks aren’t so bad as dedicated shooting platforms that ignore Light Cover and get an extra AP on a 6 to wound, perfect for those 24 shots of Devourers.  Each of the 3 types of Carnifexes have a unique role with the standard Carnifex being customizable (but also the best anti-tank melee variety), the Screamer-Killer as the main melee threat, and Thornbacks as the shooty platforms.

The Tervigon and Maleceptor both got huge glowups, and a Maleceptor can now do an insane amount of Mortal Wounds to anyone nearby, and it still has Encephalic Diffusion, but instead of costing CP, it is simply a Psychic Action.  With how strong Termagants are now, a Tervigon healing a unit 2d6 models a turn and getting to create a free 10 gant unit once per game is big strong, but the Tervigon finally got meaningful defense, namely it cannot be targeted by ranged attacks if it is within 3″ of a unit of Termagants with 15 or more models. It also can do a bit of work in melee shockingly enough. Both of these models are going to see play, and for good reason. The Maleceptor alone can do over a dozen mortal wounds in the psychic phase while also still being a rather annoying bug to take down.

 
Structural Changes

Shadow in the Warp is more or less the same but now any enemy perils is an additional mortal wound, which is just nice. Not huge but can be meaningful.  Synapse is not much different, but a key thing here is that the ignore morale aura is only 6″, so positioning of our synapse creatures is going to be key. I actually really like that overall, the army feels more like the fluff in the sense that Synapse creatures are essential to success, and if they are taken out early, the swarm starts to fall apart.

Swarming Masses is a huge boost to our little bugs as now they essentially get to fight when within 2.5″ of an enemy unit.  This means you can actually get all of your Hormagaunts to swing rather than just half.  This really does up their threat as before, it was easy to kite big units by hitting the edge of them knowing only a handful could swing, and only a few little bugs means very little damage.  This really is one of the main changes in the book that helps push the 200 body problem (used to be 300, but things are pricier now) style list into a much more competitive realm.  Especially when you consider a full squad of Hormies is 90 attacks that for 2 CP can become 120 attacks, that’s gnarly, especially with all the buffs you can throw on them like auto-wounding on 6s to hit or full rerolls to hit.

There is a lot, I mean a lot, of T8 and 2+ saves now.  Whether it be the humble Carnifex, the Exocrine, Haruspex, and even walking Hive Tyrants, we went from almost none to now most large and in charge beasts have it.  With this in mind, a Walking Hive Tyrant is pretty intense with a 2+/4++ at T8.  This gives them a considerable amount of survivability.  Instead of the typical profile being T6 for snakes, T7 for Tyrants/Carnifexes/Biggies, and T8 for just a precious few, now we really have just a battle of T7 and T8, namely anything faster or smaller like Winged Hive Tyrants, Trygons, and Carnifexes are T7 while just about every other big bug is T8.  This is a lot of added durability, especially when you combine T8 and a 2+ armor save, which even for bugs without an invulnerable, that is still a 5+ armor save against AP-3.  Pretty much all of our big bugs got more wounds or better armor, or both.

Synaptic Link is now Synaptic Imperative, and there are some distinct differences here. First, every Synapse creature has their own unique one that is free.  You do not pay points to have these (but you only get this if your entire army is from the same Hive Fleet).  Second, all units within Synaptic Link range (meaning Synapse creatures within 12″ of each other and non-Synapse being within range of a Synapse creature within the Link) benefit from this, so you can essentially turn on an almost army wide buff.  Third, you can only use a Synaptic Link once, so you cannot spam the same Synaptic Link every turn, except for Leviathan in a way.  These are also not auras, so they cannot be shut off by powers that specifically target auras.  It is worth noting that most of these are a 6″ range, so you do need to keep close to the Synapse creatures that are part of the Link.  

The highlights are:

 Zoanthropes – Warp Shielding.  Monsters within 6″ gain a 4++ invulnerable and everyone else gains a 5++.  This is brilliant as a way to mitigate brutal alpha strikes, and while the 4++ on Monsters is delicious, the 5++ on hordes of Gants is also scary.  Having at least one unit of Zoans seems like a great idea as a way to just up your survivability in the first turn.  Even if holding for later in the game, having a unit of little bugs under this effect, near a Venomthrope/Malanthrope, and with Catalyst is going to be a headache for just about any army to effectively clear off an objective.

Maleceptor – Psychic Oversight. Units within 6″ can perform an action and still shoot, can start an action if they Fell Back or Advanced, and can cast even if performing a psychic Action.  While this may seem as good as others, the ability to get a unit to advance into a critical location and then do an action is pretty money, and with so many psykers, being able to get powers off while doing Warp Ritual is also great for the secondary game. This is also part of the Maleceptor bomb as it can pop this, advance, and start casting while also dishing out mortal wounds due to its unique ability.

Tyranid Prime – Guidemind.  Units within 6″, when shooting at a unit within 24″ of them, score an additional hit on an unmodified 6.  Nids have a lot of shooting, so essentially getting free exploding 6s is pretty tasty, and with the changes to the humble fleshborer, this is even more money.  Gants powered up by this with rerolls from either Swarmy or the Warlord Trait become shockingly damaging.

Hive Tyrant – Relentless Ferocity. Units within 6″ can fall back and charge.  One of Kraken’s greatest strengths was the ability to Fall Back and Charge, setting up great angles and generally being annoying.  Now, when you really need it, any Hive Fleet can do this.  You will want to take a Hive Tyrant of some flavor, so this is one you’ll pretty much always have ready. 

It is not to say the others are bad in anyway, but rather just that these are the first to immediately stand out to me. There is a very powerful Leviathan combo with Neurothropes that can take the psychic power up to 11. I really like this change, not just for the power, but it rewards you for taking a lot of different Synapse creatures, and it means that you need a variety of them around the board to make sure that your buffs are getting to the units that need them. 

Adaptive Physiology is gone but long live Adaptive Physiology. No longer spending CP, you now purchase these upgrades for a Monster with points, with the usual limits we’ve seen for these kind of upgrades (but now no Titanic).  Dermic Symbiosis is now just a flat 4++ but no double wounds, but still, a 4++ on say a Haruspex is still pretty tasty. Enraged Reserves, a new one, gets the double wound ability of old Dermic, but it also has a neat trick of essentially getting to use an Epic Deed Stratagem for free, so you are paying points for CP, and well, for me, that’s a great trade. This is perfect for a piece trade unit that you know will die, so you just need it to do its thing.   The biggest for me is actually Synapse as Tyranids rely on Synapse much more, so being able to make a Tyrannofex or Exocrine synapse unlocks a lot of potential. Even throwing this on a melee Carnifex as a disposable frontline Synapse threat to help keep the forward elements in Synaptic Link works.

Our Stratagems are distinctly different now, and for me, one of the really lovely changes is that we have access to multiple models with Warlord Traits now, which for me opens up a lot of awesome combinations that we never had before.  You can have a Tervigon (who got a great glow up) with Adaptive Biology for a 5++ Feel No Pain, have another model with the new Direct Guidance (essentially Tyranid Warrior’s old Synaptic Link) to give a CORE unit +1 to hit, and if you really get spendy, also give a Tyrant Always Strike First and reroll all hits.  This really opens up a lot of combinations, and that makes for a more layered, enjoyable book.  

We did lose Single-Minded Annihilation, which isn’t a surprise as well as Pathogenic Slime no longer just adding +1 damage to ranged attacks, but we got a lot of great ones in return. Bounding Advance is money for allowing a unit of Hormies to advance and charge AND a flat +6 to their movement for Advancing, so now they are going 16″ and still able to charge! Catalyst is pretty much the same, so you can now Advance and Charge with two distinct threats on Turn 1 (or any turn really).  We have a strat to essentially revive 3+d3 models in a Gant/Gargoyle unit a turn, which is just tasty seeing as how Gargoyles and Hormies are much improved and cannot regen from a Tervigon.   We have a cheap Transhuman (can only be wounded on an unmodified 1-3) for a Monster, which with so much T8 isn’t huge, but then it can really help foil those Tau Railguns.  Adrenal Glands have also distinctly changed to be a flat +1 to move and +1 strength, so no more extra movement, but that +1 strength can make a big difference with our little bugs, but it also opens up a great Stratagem that gives any Adrenal Gland unit +1 attack (or +d3 attacks if a Monster).

Shard Lure is another great strat that replaces Hunter’s Mark with a much simpler and more reliable trigger, hitting a target with a Synapse creature, giving all friendly models an extra d6, drop the lowest, on charges against that unit, perfect for helping out those long charges or charges out of reserve. Especially since Tyrants are somewhat forced into long range shooting now, you don’t need your Synapse to be too far forward (or you can use a Tyranid Prime/Warriors to proc this too). 

Encircle the Prey is also a great one that allows BURROWERS (Raveners, Trygons, etc) or units with FLY (hello Flyrants and Gargoyles) to jump back into reserve and then come in next turn, which is an awesome way to reposition in the late game or set up juicy charges out of reserve again.  Another fun one is Toxic Entanglement, which essentially forces a unit hit by a Toxicrene’s shooting attack to target Toxicrene (and also boosts the Toxicrene’s charges against that target).  This is fun with the potential to really mess with your opponent as controlling their movement phase is rare in this game, and the Toxicrene is cheap enough to essentially be a screen for bigger threats, especially if doing a monster mash style list. 

Hive Fleets

Hive Fleets have seen big changes, and one of the biggest is that each Hive Fleet essentially has two bonuses, but one of those bonuses is actually interchangeable within a list of other options, depending on the Hive Fleet in question.  There are still custom Hive Fleets too, so you can build a variety of hive fleets to suit the Great Devourer. The key change for me is that the Hyper-Adaptation is selected at the start of the game, so you can absolutely take a different turn depending on who you are facing. This is just amazing customization and tactically flexibility, and it allows savvy generals the chance to really maximize their advantages in each game.

Behemoth is still about all aggression with a flat +1 strength if you charge, were charged, or heroically intervened, great on anything from little bugs to big bugs.  You still also reroll charges, but you can swap this one out.  They still have one of the best psychic powers with Unstoppable Onslaught for a +1 to wound in melee (making things like Hormies insane little blenders), and their new relic is just flat +1 damage to melee weapons, replacing Murderous Size essentially.  The custom strat is also fun for making a tide of little bugs fight on death.  So really, Behemoth went from being very monster focused to being more melee and aggression focused, and really, Behemoth can run little bugs effectively or build a crazy out of reserve melee army.

Kraken is still about speed with its main adaptation giving models -1 AP when they charge, again, making little bugs (or Warriors/Raveners) much more threatening, and their secondary adaption changes advance rolls to d3+3, giving you a minimum of 4.  You can swap this out if you like, but if you are designing a list around flat out speed, this is still quite nice. The warlord trait is a CP regen trick, which honestly is awesome since Tyranids are still CP hungry as ever, they still have Opportunistic Advance (but now just a flat +8 movement, again, amazing for its consistency).  So the Kraken rocket isn’t entirely dead, different and a bit less reliable since you need Onslaught to go off, but still, Kraken rocket can still very much be a thing.  Also, shout out to Chameleonic Mutation which is now -1 to hit and no rerolls to hit, making any character pretty damn tanky.  A gunboat Flyrant can be hard to shift and relatively safe with this.

Leviathan is still going to be a top contender here as all Synapse creatures now have Perma-Transhuman (only wounded on an unmodified 4+) and non-Synapse near them get a mini version (1-2 always fails).  While this seems great for little bugs, Warriors, Zoanthropes, and Tyrants love this, and so taking 3 patrols for 3 Tyrants is going to be a great Monster Mash list that fights, shoots, and is incredibly annoying to kill. Warriors are so much stronger now, so having 40+ of them that are hard as nails to shift is going to be a thing. Their swappable adaptation is one free reroll to hit, which isn’t bad at all, but also not essential.  Hive Nexus, their custom power, is also awesome for essentially giving a unit a second Synaptic Imperative, which is just a ton of flexibility but also lets them spam mortal wounds. Their relic gives them essentially an Auspex scan, and their stratagem is more or less the same but easier to pull off. Still, the real juice here is that Transhuman and the potential for just dominate psychic output. Tyrants, Warriors, and Zoans are going to be mainstays in Leviathan.

Gorgon stock is way up, giving all models Poison 4+ against everything except Vehicles and Titanic units.  S3 has always been the bane of termies/hormies, but now, not so much a problem. Their swappable trait is a free reroll to wound, which again is good, but also easy to change out as needed. Their bespoke power, Poisonous Influence, is absolutely legit, giving a unit a chance to do a mortal wound on an unmodified wound of 6, (capped at 6), but with Hormies putting out up to 90 attacks, yah, it is easy to get those 6 mortal wounds. Their strat isn’t bad at all as auto-wounding on 5+ is great, but Toxin Sac Hormies are pretty expensive. Still, a Gorgon Hormie/Termie swarm is no joke. 

Jormungandr loses some luster here. It gives Dense Cover to all non-Monsters when shot at from more than 12″, which is not bad, and same for Monsters at over 18″, and their secondary trait helps mitigate blast weapons, but their relic and warlord trait and power are not so amazing. They still do get to put 2 units (in a 2k game) into reserve for 2CP, which is awesome for dropping down a Haruspex, Tyrannofex, or what have you, right into the scrum, but when compared to the other Hive Fleets, this one feels just a bit flat. 

Kronos still loves to shoot and mess with psykers, granting +4″ range to all weapons and their swappable trait is -1AP when shooting at a target within half range (making Fleshborers -2AP when within 11″, not bad at all). Their Warlord Trait is great for messing with Psykers, making them Perils on any double if they are within 18″ of the Warlord. Symbiostorm is not so overpowered now, just granting a flat +1 strength to shooting, but that is still very usable, and their relic is tricky as hell.  You can select one enemy unit within Synaptic Link range and that unit cannot rerolls hits, wounds, or psychic tests.  Deepest Shadow is not quite as good, but can still mess with Psykers decently.  For bug armies that want to really lean into a gunline, Kronos can do a lot of work.

Hydra is still about them little bugs, and well, that’s a good thing. They still get +1 to hit when they outnumber an enemy unit in melee (Vehicles/Monsters count as 5). Their secondary trait is amazing with a flat +1 to move but also +3 to consolidate, giving you a ton of extra movement and board control.  Their Warlord Trait is fine, but their psychic power is great, essentially giving you another smite that is based off how many Hydra models are within 3″ of the target, and again, if going with a Gant-Carpet style list, it is easy to hit the max 6 mortal wounds off this power. Their relic isn’t bad on a shooting Tyrant, but their Stratagem is amazing, giving a unit reroll to wounds if they outnumber their target.   With the power of the little bug going up, Hydra could see a surge into competitive play as even Termagants become threatening when hitting on 3s, rerolling hits, autowounding on 6s to hit, and rerolling wounds. That’s just a lot of forced armor saves, plus some other ways to pop mortal wounds.

In terms of swappable traits, there are 3 categories (Hunt, Lurk, and Feed), and each Hive Fleet can swap within 2 of these categories.  A few highlights.

Hunt:

Adrenalised Onslaught – +3 consolidate.  Always great for that extra movement in melee, which means extra control of the board. 
Synaptic Goading – Endless Multitude units gain a free 6″ pre-game move.  Absolutely amazing for a horde list as it helps get you right into the center board from Turn 1 and with Hormies, pretty much guarantees first turn charges.

Lurk:

Territorial Instincts – Monsters with 10 or more wounds count as 5 models and all Monsters gain Objective Secured.  This is amazing if you are a dedicated Nidzilla player and it makes Mawlocs the bees-knees for objective snatching.
Synaptic Ganglia – Reroll Deny the Witch tests and increase the range of psychic powers by 3″.  Again, if doing a heavy psychic list, which Tyranids can do quite well, this really, really helps start doing damage early or getting key buffs off without sacrificing positioning.

  
Feed
Unstoppable Swarm – You can ignore any or all modifiers to your move, advance, and charges.  This is amazing for turning off a lot of defensive tek and navigating the board.
Wreathed in Shadow – You cannot be Overwatched and your opponent cannot Set to Defend.  While Overwatch isn’t as oppressive as before (especially with T’au’s new book), this can still be an amazing little trait that just prevents your opponent from doing any meaningful damage as you come in, and against certain builds, it can absolutely shift the game right into your favor from the start.

Again, there are plenty of options here, and well, the coolest aspect of this is that again, you can choose to swap out your secondary hive trait for another based on these lists, and that just adds so much tactical flexibility to the game.

Final Thoughts:

Wow, this is a big book with a lot of changes, and 99% of them are a net positive for the faction. I love that the book rewards diversity and investment as having a variety of Synapse creatures presents so many options that you can use in game. I also love that you can actually fit a wide variety of HQ choices since Neurothropes, Warriors, and Genestealers give you a slot-free HQ choice, so even if you are staying to a single battalion to maximize CPs, you can still have a Tyrant, a Tervigon, and a Trygon Prime (or Old One Eye) while also bringing a Tyranid Prime, a Neurothrope, and a Broodlord, if you take their “base” units. Besides the flat out power and stat increases here, it is the synergies that really bring it up to a whole new level.

For me, that is really what makes this book shine so bright: it best encapsulates the lore of the Tyranids by giving them some of the best monsters, giving them incredible tactical flexibility, and making them dependent on synapse and synergies to really work as intended. From a casual perspective, this book makes just about every unit playable to some extent without actually being a hindrance, and from the competitive perspective, I do expect to see Leviathan Psychic builds, Kronos massed fire, and Behemoth or Hydra swarms in the meta, and this book should distinctly shake things up.

Overall, it is hard not to be quite happy about the book, and I am excited to play more builds, experiment with models that I haven’t used in a few editions, and of course, see what others are doing. I certainly will be interested to see what the Tyranid lists look like at BAO 2022, which is fast approaching.

Thanks for reading this rather long one, and stay tuned as I celebrate this holy Tyranid week by dropping more focused reviews of Hive Fleets, Relics/Warlord Traits, and Stratagems/Psychic Powers, and then we’ll start the long road down a unit by unit breakdown. Since I do love Tyranids, be sure to check out TFG Radio as I will certainly give something out to celebrate a new model (it’s only been like, what, 6 years?). Stay hungry, and go play games and be nice to each other!